Parayko combines education and the Stanley Cup playoffs

Every coach loves a good student of the game, but St. Louis Blues defenceman Colton Parayko gives new meaning to the term.

Sure, lots of NCAA student-athletes make the NHL, but not many vigorously pursue both academic and hockey life while in the NHL.

By now you’ve noticed Parayko in the Stanley Cup playoffs. He’s hard to miss, at 6-foot-5, 226 pounds. He had an outstanding rookie season — Parayko made the Blues out of training camp, and quickly established himself as a fixture — playing 19:23 minutes per game and contributing 33 points including nine goals. In the post-season, Parayko is playing more than 20 minutes a night and has two goals and two assists in 10 games.

Most impressive is the degree of poise in Parayko’s game. Could it be because he has varied interests?

For most 22-year-olds, school would be an afterthought to a player who “made it” in the NHL. Parayko, a St. Albert, Alta., native, spent two junior seasons with the Fort McMurray Oil Barons. Parayko is one of many NHL players with connections to Fort McMurray, all of them heartsick over the ongoing saga in northern Alberta this week as the town is ravaged by wild fires.

Parayko’s AJHL experience earned him a scholarship at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, where he spent three years playing for the Alaska Nanooks, while studying business administration. As well as he played in the NHL this season under one of hockey’s most demanding coaches, Ken Hitchcock, Parayko continued to pursue his studies while playing 79 of 82 games for the Blues.

ESPN’s Julie Robenhymer visited Parayko in St. Louis to pursue the educational angle. As she relates the story, toward the end of a six-game road trip, Hitchcock asked Parayko what his plans were for the evening. Parayko said he had two term papers to finish. Hitchcock was stunned. He’d never heard of an NHL player finishing courses during an NHL season. For Parayko, it’s business (administration) as usual.

“People think I’m crazy for doing this, but I’m not crazy,” Parayko told ESPN.com. “I’ve been going to school and playing hockey for the past three years. This is nothing new for me. The way I see it, it would be crazy not to finish my degree.”

And yes, the straight-A student is continuing his studies during the Stanley Cup playoffs.

DON’T ‘BLOW IT’

Senators owner Eugene Melnyk, who rarely disappoints when he joins the Fan 590 for an interview, told the station Wednesday that he will be involved in the coach-hiring process. But only as a “confirmation” of the final two candidates as selected by GM Pierre Dorion. Melnyk said it would be a “casual meeting,” then added: “I’m the last guy to blow it with. I mean, you’d have to do something really sad to blow it with me. Honest to God, you’re in unless you blow it. You’ve got to really blow it somehow . . .”

Let’s not dismiss the potential significance of this “casual meeting.”

The Senators once pursued Peter DeBoer as a prospective head coach and the process ended abruptly after a meeting with Melnyk. DeBoer went on to sign with the Florida Panthers and now has the San Jose Sharks in the second playoff round.

SLAMMER CHAYKA

I didn’t expect to ever mention the Woodstock Slammers, let alone twice in one week. The New Brunswick Jr. ‘A’ team is playing host to the Fred Page Cup tournament, where the Carleton Place Canadians are defending Eastern Canadian champs. In the opener, the Canadians beat the Slammers 5-2.

It turns out, new Arizona Coyotes GM John Chayka played for the Slammers from 2007-09 and he was a very good junior, with 133 points in 101 games. A back injury shortened his career, and he quickly became enamoured of analytics, co-founding the firm Stathletes in 2009.

Thursday, Chayka, 26, was named GM of the Coyotes, making him the youngest general manager in league history.

Chayka seems like a bright guy, but has just a year of NHL experience. In the new setup, alternate governor Gary Drummond becomes president of hockey operations and head coach Dave Tippett adds executive-VP of hockey opps to his title.

Chayka often gets compared to Maple Leafs AGM Kyle Dubas, who made strong use of hockey analytics while he was GM of the OHL’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. He was 24 at the time, barely older than the junior players he was signing and trading.

Leafs president Brendan Shanahan brought Dubas to Toronto a couple of years ago, and he has helped GM Lou Lamoriello build the AHL Marlies program (the team finished with the best regular-season record in the league). With the less-experienced Chayka leaping into a GM role, it’s worth remembering what Dubas said last month.

“Very bluntly put, I don’t believe I’m ready to be an NHL general manager,” the 30-year-old Dubas told reporters in Toronto. “I believe I have a lot to learn.”

Chayka could have used another few years as an AGM to prepare, but instead he is thrust in a unique operation where a co-owner is head of a hockey operations department that includes the head coach.

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